Gordon Engelhardt, of the Courier and Press, reports free agent LB Kevin Hardy (Bengals) finds himself in a thoroughly unfamiliar position - on the sidelines, playing the waiting game. Not much has happened in the way of job offers since he was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals in May. "I plan to play this year, but I haven't spoken to any teams. I'm waiting for somebody to give me a call and we'll take it from there."

Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Sun-Times, reports the Chicago Bears, who are in search of a linebacker, have yet to call free agent LB Kevin Hardy (Bengals). ''It would be nice if they called,'' said Ethan Lock, Hardy's agent, ''but they haven't to this point.''

Terry Bannon, of the Chicago Tribune, reports the Chicago Bears are not expected to show interest in free agent LB Kevin Hardy (Bengals) since he doesn't fit the team's bill of quick and mobile linebackers.

Geoff Hobson, of Bengals.com, reports free agent LB Kevin Hardy (Bengals) is not ready to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL after 10 seasons in the league. "I've got a good start to the offseason conditioning and I'm going to keep going," the 31-yard old Hardy said.